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Coyotes-Wolves-Cougars.blogspot.com

Grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, coyotes, cougars/ mountain lions,bobcats, wolverines, lynx, foxes, fishers and martens are the suite of carnivores that originally inhabited North America after the Pleistocene extinctions.
This site invites research, commentary, point/counterpoint on that suite of native animals (predator and prey) that inhabited The Americas circa 1500-at the initial point of European exploration and subsequent colonization.
Landscape ecology, journal accounts of explorers and frontiersmen, genetic evaluations of museum animals, peer reviewed 20th and 21st century research on various aspects of our "Wild America" as well as subjective commentary from expert and layman alike. All of the above being revealed and discussed with the underlying goal of one day seeing our Continent rewilded.....Where big enough swaths of open space exist with connective corridors to other large forest, meadow, mountain, valley, prairie, desert and chaparral wildlands.....Thereby enabling all of our historic fauna, including man, to live in a sustainable and healthy environment. - Blogger Rick

Hunters killed fewer wolves in Wyoming in 2013 than last year after hunting was allowed. Elk hunters enjoyed their biggest harvest in state's history, even before wolves were hunted. KULR 8's Penny Preston explains.

Wolves do take elk, no doubt about it. But dire predictions that wolves would wipe out elk in the state of Wyoming have not proved true.

A Wyoming Game and Fish report from last March announced the highest elk harvest ever recorded in the Cowboy State, with more than 26,000 elk taken by hunters in 2012. The report credited a growing elk population, among other things.

Wyoming's first wolf hunting season started late in 2012. Hunters took 42 wolves in trophy game areas from October to December. 25 more wolves were killed in predator zones open year round outside the trophy game areas in Northwest Wyoming.

Shortly after that first wolf season, Wyoming's Game and Fish Department started counting wolves. Gunners shoot nets from a helicopter, to capture the animals, collar them, and collect samples.

"Trying to get an end of the year population estimate to report to the Fish and Wildlife Service, and as part of that requires radio collared wolves that we can count," Ken Mills, Wyoming Game and Fish Large Carnivore Biologist.

In order to keep wolves under Wyoming management, and not federal control, the state must maintain at least 100 wolves, in ten packs. Wyoming's large carnivore biologist, Ken Mills says the 2013 count indicated a healthy buffer.

"We had 186 wolves outside of Yellowstone and the Wind River Indian Reservation, and 15 breeding pairs."

The biologists are back in Northwest Wyoming prepping for more trapping, and collaring. Mills says contractors, like this group from New Zealand, do the aerial work and bring the results back to him. Although only 24 wolves were taken in 2013 hunts, he thinks the population may have dropped.

"We estimated based on previous mortality and the hunting quotas we offered, that we would be around 160 wolves and 14 breeding pairs at the end of the year."

What about poaching? Mills says the state has prosecuted two cases, and is investigating three others. One still unsolved is the killing of a wolf between Cody and Yellowstone.

From Cody, Penny Preston, KULR 8 News.

Wyoming's 2013 wolf count will be used to set quotas for this year's fall hunt. Mill says the state wants to keep more than the minimum number of animals required to maintain a safe buffer.

Two Massachusetts Eastern Coyotes at their den site

Eastern Wolf in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada

Aldo Leopold--3 quotes from his SAN COUNTY ALMANAC

"We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect."

Aldo Leopold

"A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."

Aldo Leopold

''To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering."

Wildlife Rendezvous

Like so many conscientious hunters and anglers come to realize, good habitat with our full suite of predators and prey make for healthy and productive living............Teddy Roosevelt depicted at a "WILDLIFE RENDEZVOUS"

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This is a personal weblog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer. In addition, my thoughts and opinions change from time to time…I consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind. This blog is intended to provide a semi-permanent point in time snapshot and manifestation of my various thoughts and opinions, and as such any thoughts and opinions expressed within out-of-date posts may not be the same, nor even similar, to those I may hold today. All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. Rick Meril and WWW.COYOTES-WOLVES-COUGARS.COM make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.